warm-ups

[andrsn]

it's early... we're anxious... the water's looking great... and there's fish everywhere.

it's hard to pass up a nice grouper or snapper that's just egging you on to pursue it. anyone in my group would be off after it the minute they hit the water. i know this can't be too safe, so i'm posing a question on warming up.

does anyone have warm up excercises they do on the boat on the way out? or is anyone aware or have ideas on what would be a quick and effective way to warm up upon entrance? we stretch a bit before we get in, but we've never spent much time easing into things when we're immediately lured away by fish.


thanks,

anderson

[Erik]

Hi anderson, here's my 2 bits. Forgive me if you've seen this, but here's what I always do.
When I'm getting my suit on, etc, I will do 2 or 3 breatholds to 10 contractions, all the while getting my head into the moment and moving very slowly.
Once in the water, I will do 2 negative dives to 5 to 8 metres. Negative dives always kick my dive reflex in right away, instead of waiting for 10 regular dives. In cold water I have found this important, as 10 dives is easily 45 minutes in the water, at which point I might start to get cold if it's really cold.
Godd fishing,
Erik Y.

[andrsn]

hey erik,

where can i read up on these contractions. naive as i may appear, it sounds like you're ready to give birth or something. what exactly are these contractions i keep hearing about?

thanks

[freediver48]

Hi,

My warm-up routine is typically done on the beach before I suit up, on a boat dive I warm-up before loading up to go. The warm-up takes about 20 minutes and involves various stretches that I have integrated from Tai Chi and Yoga. All of these are done in quiet mode, like Erik mentioned. I finish up with a pack stretching exerecise.

Best wishes,

Freediver48

[Erik]

The little red man is what I look like after 50 contractions!
I don't know where to read about contractions, but I will describe the process as best as I can. Try it at home. If you hold your breath long enough, there should be a point where you have an involuntary contraction of your diaphragm. If you don't get one the first breath hold, then breathe up again and hold again. You probably will have to hold for a while, way past the urge to breathe to feel since you are an adept breath holder already.
They are your body trying to force as much O2 as possible from your lungs into your bloodstream, and to mix the air around in your lungs so as to access the O2. It works, and can be a good training and preparation aid. They can also be used as an indicator to return to the surface. I will comfortably accept 10 contractions on the way to the surface during shallow rec diving, more for constant ballast attempts, and as many as 50 during a static attempt.
Give it a shot, but of course be careful amigo , maybe tell your wife what your doing so that she doesn't walk in and think that you are possessed!
Cheers,
Erik Y.

[andrsn]

erik:

ha! i assumed that's what everyone was talking about, but i couldn't imagine having 20! now you're saying 50! holy crap! i've never felt them. and i've been in the water quite a while, too.

i'll definitely try to entice some of these contractions. maybe not here at work, but when i get home. i'll let you know cause i will probably want to ask more questions.

later,
anderson

ps. i can't figure out why i've never had them.? i think i have excellent dynamic apnea and have been down for more than 3 minutes photographing fish and have never felt these terrestrial events. ??

[Octo]

hi anderson,

Some people do not experience contractions. This is not a bad thing. I will have numerous (not nearly as many as Eric) contractions when diving my limits. Recently, I was surprised when diving at altitude. I was getting contractions after only 45 seconds. A new personal best

You may never get contractions, however, I describe them as a physical urge to breath. My stomach and chest tighten causing my back to "hunch" slightly. Like Eric, I also get quite red and my skin around the neck and upper chest gets blotchy (this does wonders for my sex life - I'm too sexy for my skin). May you stay contraction free. Sounds like taht is the case if you do 3+min dives.

Warm Regards,

Aaron

[andrsn]

aaron,

i'm in colorado right now, way far away from the water. i've been trying to hold my breath right here at the computer to see if i recognize these contractions. i actually can't hold my breath long enough to feel contractions. it's weird. i've never actually tried to hold my breath out of water. the only type of contractions i'm feeling is my heart beating.

actually, i just put my mask on and tried it again and was easily able to double my time. how queer am i? hope no chicks are reading this crap. anyways, i am noticing some very faint muscle contractions, but it's more in my upper chest as opposed to my diaphragm. it's still very faint, though.

i'm wondering if i'll ever get visited by the contraction fairy. oh well, maybe it's not necessarily a bad thing.


thanks for your input,
anderson

[amr]

One technique that has helped people experience contractions is to just hold your breath with no breathup at all beforehand, and without taking a deep breath. Just stop breathing at the end of a normal exhalation (or inhalation). There should be no uncomfortable "full" feeling at the start. With time, rising CO2 levels will cause discomfort. Eventually, your diaphragm will probably feel "twitchy" and these twitches should eventually develop into contractions. It shouldn't take long for contractions to start -- less than 2 minutes, probably less than one.

In this case, the diaphragm movements may be either inward (contractions) or outward ("expansions"?), since your diaphragm is at its "neutral" or resting point.

[thin_air]

does anyone ever get the feeling that you can kind of fenc off contractions?

sometimes if i consentrate i can get past 3 minutes without contrations (if im lucky, my pb is 3:15) but then just the urge to breathe gets to me so i guess what im say is that i have some long holds (for me) where i dont have any contractions

oh, and i was working on some ways to get my times past 2:45 to be less stressful i found that if i tell my body that the feeling of a contration is good then they seem to be only an inconvenince (sp) instead of a hassle/pain (i carried this over from biking, during long heard sprints if you tell yourself that that burning feeling in your legs feel nice you can concentrate on going farther)


oh well just a couple of mind tricks that work for me see if they work for you